


Sleepover

by Static_melody



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Bonding, M/M, not explicitly romo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:14:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8844640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Static_melody/pseuds/Static_melody
Summary: Leo's p i s s e d





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is pre-valet Leo stuff, enjoy.

Leo was sitting in bed, feeling malcontent and bitter, as per usual. This had been a nightly routine since the day he had arrived at the orphanage, and, wearing an ill-fitting pyjama set, he looked even smaller than usual; his expression was only betrayed by his rigid frown. It was only discernable from his usual disinterested glare by those who were very, very familiar with Leo and his mannerisms. He happened to be thinking of Elliot Nightray, as he so often was. He wasn’t content with his thoughts. The nobleman was a nuisance in the daytime, but in the nighttime he was so much worse. When the curtains were drawn and all was dark but the space illuminated by candlelight, Leo would go so far as to say that it was a fascination. This was entirely new to him. The only things he’d ever been fascinated in were insects and books, and up until then, he had rather prided himself on not having a person on that list up until that point. It frustrated him to no end that, in the dead of night, he would awaken and be struck with the desire to say something to someone. Nothing particularly urgent, either, just anything. He wouldn’t learn until after the sixth time he’d sat in bed sleeplessly with this urge until he realized that he didn’t want to speak to just anyone, after all.  
It was worrying, to say the least. Whenever Leo heard of Elliot coming to visit, he would flee to the library, where he would hide in a corner with a book until Elliot came to disturb him. He even found himself unable to focus on his book of choice some days, and decided that it was because he was so upset that Elliot would be visiting. Not because he was excited. Not at all. And when Elliot would finally arrive, just after saying polite hellos to the nuns, (the hellos stopped altogether after a while) Leo would chastise himself for never changing his hiding spot. It was a small building, so he didn’t have anywhere to hide. At least that’s how he explained it to himself.  
Gradually, Leo stopped hiding and started waiting right by the window. He didn’t even bother to pick up whichever worn novel caught his eye that day, knowing he’d have to put it down mere minutes later. This irritated him, but not to the extent that it had before. Not to the extent that it should. He was practicing piano more and more those days, and Elliot was showing up without warning and sneaking in to listen, unnoticed (or so he thought). Eventually, Elliot joined him at the piano and offered absolutely useless advice that Leo had already taken into account. However, in an uncharacteristic and nearly unsettlingly kind sort of way, Leo neglected to tell him that he knew, and instead just nodded thoughtfully as if processing new information.  
The reason Leo was so disgruntled on that specific night was because his bed was empty once again. Not specifically because it was empty, though, but because he wasn’t relieved about it. Somehow, Elliot had convinced his noble family to let him spend the night at Fianna’s House, and he had somehow convinced Leo to let him stay in his bed. The thought of it was incredibly annoying to Leo, who had gone to sleep immediately upon Elliot’s arrival. However, that night, Leo found himself awoken for familiar reasons, but this time with a conversation partner. He had rolled over in bed, and he had whispered (so as to avoid waking the other children) a very sharp  
“Hey.”  
Elliot was already awake, and had been staring at the wall. He turned over.  
“Yeah?”  
Leo had never gotten this far, and was at a loss for words. In his panicked state, he dug for any information that could possibly be interesting to a son of a duke, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.  
“Did you know that the female praying mantis eats the male praying mantis after mating?” He asked, in the urgent whisper of someone in an emergency.  
Elliot took a moment to process the information, and his brows furrowed.  
“That’s scary. Why would you tell me that when we’re in the same building as them?”  
“It’s winter, I hardly think they’d be out this time of year.” Leo desperately tried to hide his embarrassment. What a dumb thing to talk about.  
“I saw plenty today! There have got to be ten here at any given time. Since when do they hibernate, anyways?”  
“They die in the winter,” Leo chuckled softly, “and I didn’t see one.”  
“Anyways, that’s so obviously fake. Aren’t they devoted to God or some crap?”  
That was when they both realized exhausted, nervous Elliot’s mistake.  
Leo covered his mouth with one hand to stifle his laughter, clutching the bedsheets with the other, while Elliot desperately tried to defend his mistake.  
“I mean they’re both religiously-affiliated! It’s 3:00 AM,” Elliot growled, hiding his face.  
“You just confused a praying mantis with a nun. If you’re like this at 3:00 AM, I’d love to see you after not sleeping for 24 hours!”  
“Hey, it’s been a stressful week!” Elliot snapped. (quietly, of course)  
And so it went until they both fell asleep just before the sun rose, facing one another and curled up almost like lovers.  
Needless to say, when he looked back on it, this made Leo very angry.


End file.
